"There is only one power that determines the course of history . . . the power of ideas." — Ayn Rand

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

ObamaCare and Gay Marriage Rulings: One Loss and One Win for the Right

The June 2015 Supreme Court rulings upholding the ObamaCare subsidies and sweeping aside all legal barriers to same-sex marriage have been portrayed as back-to-back wins for the Left.

But a proper understanding of the political Left and Right shows that the ObamaCare ruling is a win for the Left, and the gay marriage ruling a win for the Right. Why? Because, as Craig Biddle explains in detail for The Objective Standard, the Left stands for statism, and the Right stands for individual rights. Clearly, the ObamaCare ruling upholding the subsidies in direct defiance of the clear language of the Affordable Care Act is a defeat for the rule of objective law, and thus a victory for statism and correspondingly a defeat for individual rights. The gay marriage ruling was clearly a win for individual rights.

The right of consenting adults to forge a marriage contract recognized as valid and enforceable under the law is an extension of the rights to voluntary association and contract consistent with the basic American principles of the inalienable rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. That’s the right that the SCOTUS upheld in its gay marriage rulling known as Obergefell v. Hodges. The ObamaCare subsidies, on the other hand, violates the rights of everyone, including gays. To the extent that people are taxed (i.e., forced ) to pay for the subsidies, people’s right to spend their own money as they see fit—their property rights—are violated. That’s the right that the SCOTUS violated in its ObamaCare subsidy ruling known as King V Burwell.

So the Supreme Court essentially said that gays have a right to choose a marriage partner, but not the right to choose how they spend their money, including if, when, how, and in what capacity to assist others financially.

It’s true that what passes for the Left in America supports both the subsidies and gay marriage. On the flip side, what passes for the Right opposes both. So it would seem that, superficially, the initial portrayal—that the two rulings are a double win for the Left—is correct. But that’s only because the Left is not fully statist, and the Right is not fully a defender of individual rights. Both sides are mixed bags. So the SCOTUS provided one win for the Left, and one for the Right.

About Me

Greetings and welcome to my blog. My name is Michael A. (Mike) LaFerrara. I sometimes use the pen or "screen" name "Mike Zemack" or "Zemack" in online activism, such as posted comments on articles. “Zemack” stands for the first letters of the names of my six grandchildren. I was born in 1949 in New Jersey, U.S.A., where I retired from a career in the plumbing, building controls, and construction industries, and still reside with my wife of 45 years. The purpose of my blog is the discussion of a wide range of topics relating to human events from the perspective of Objectivism, the philosophy of reason, rational self-interest, and Americanism originated by Ayn Rand.

As Rand observed: “The professional intellectual is the field agent of the army whose commander-in-chief is the philosopher.” I am certainly not the philosopher. But neither am I a field agent, or general. I am a foot soldier in that Objectivist army that fights for an individualist society in which every person can live in dignified sovereignty, by his own reasoned judgment, for his own sake, in that state of peaceful coexistence with his fellow man that only capitalist political and economic freedom can provide. While I am a fully committed Objectivist, my opinions are based on my own understanding of Objectivism, and should not be taken as definitive “Objectivist positions.” For the full story of my journey toward Objectivism, see my Introduction.

One final introductory note: I strongly recommend Philosophy, Who Needs it, which highlights the inescapable importance of philosophy in every individual's life. I can be reached at mal.atlas@comcast.net. Thanks, Mike LaFerrara.

Recommended Essays/Videos

Quotes I Like

Let me give you a tip on a clue to men’s characters: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it. Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper’s bell of an approaching looter.—Francisco d'Anconia

I love getting older...I get to grow up and learn things. Madalyn, 5 years old, Montesorri student, and my grand-daughter

The best thing one can do for the poor is to not become one of them. Author Unknown

Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed. Francis Bacon

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. Ronald Reagan

Thinking is hard work. If it weren't, more people would do it. Henry Ford

Intellectual freedom cannot exist without political freedom; political freedom cannot exist without economic freedom; a free mind and a free market are corollaries. Ayn Rand